God of heaven
Father of countless stars and galaxies
the light of which pierces the darkness of our night sky
revealing to us the vastness of your creation, and your love
we cannot count the stars, we cannot name them all
but you know each one, you made each one, you name each one
from the wonder and glory of your whole creation, you reveal to us innumerable stars and show us the many, many children of Abraham there are,
all your children, all named and known and loved by you
we are here, as children of Abraham, gathered to worship and praise you, gathered to find comfort under your wings, gathered to grow in faith and discipleship
Come to us, Lord God
in this hour, through your holy spirit
gather us up into your arms and disclose to us the promise you have for us, once more
you are our God, our shield, our very great reward
you are with us to the end of time
remind us, again, your promise is true and on that we can rely
But heavenly father, though your promises are true, your commitment to us total
we struggle to see how they are being worked out in your world
we see ourselves as limited in what we can do, due to our age, time we can commit, the sense we will not live to see your covenant blessing come to fruition
so we give up trying to live out your kingdom way in all we say and do
we give up trying to welcome the stranger, the returner, the lost
we give up looking at the stars and counting them,
knowing your children are as numerous as they are
All wondrous God
we are truly sorry for these and all the many other ways in which we have failed to trust you completely and neglected your way, uncovered to us through Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom all our sins are forgiven now and forever
Amen